8 Feb 2013

Helping Lily

After Mondays fallout things have moved at warped speed with regard to getting Lily once again interested in school. I have to say that I have been blown away by the administration at the school.

I had initially emailed her teacher which is something I do frequently and she always emails me back promptly but on Monday she rang me back and we talked. The counsellor has rung twice, the Principal once and the gifted teacher once. I have also seen her homeroom teacher in person as she made a point of walking out of school yesterday to check how things were going. All of this would just be fluff if things were not being done but they are.

Her counsellor felt that the virtual classroom would be a good option for Lily. This meant that in addition to what Lily learns in school she can also do extra work at home in a virtual setting. The principal vetoed this idea as she feels extra work is not what is needed but more challenging work is the answer. I agree. If we just bog the kid down she is going to hate school even more, if that is possible. The solution, she needs to skip a grade or 2 or 3. After much discussion the decision has been made that she will skip certain grade levels but remain with her peers. She will stay in her grade level but will do entirely different work. I really want her to stay with her peers for now as at this age maturity is a huge issue and I just don't want her mixing with kids that are 13 and 14. No thank you ma'am. She knows so much already I just don't need her putting it into practise. Not that she would necessarily but there would be greater temptation.

Things changed on Tuesday and Lily immediately felt better. Her gifted teacher included her in class. She wasn't doing so as she knows that Lily knows all the answers and was ignoring her as she needs to let others have a chance. It wasn't a malicious act just the way it has to be. She even moved her seat so that she can actually see her better and is therefore more likely to include her. I understand where she is coming from but as Lily pointed out sometimes I put my hand up to ask about something I don't understand and she still ignores me.

Having a child that needs remedial help is so much easier as there is so much help out there but having a really smart kid that is bored offers an entirely different set of problems and there just isn't that much help. Thankfully this principal believes in grade skipping. If she stays in this school, which she doesn't want to do, she can whack out a lot of high school classes before she even gets to high school and then once in high school she can start immediately with AP courses for college. The same will be true at her magnet school also. I just have a spot for WP.

She needs to go where the challenge will be greater.

Thank you to all the wonderful teachers out there, our children's futures really do depend on you.

3 comments:

We went thru this with one of our kids & unfortunately back then there weren't even classes for gifted students. He turned out great & his brother & sister call him Trump(not to his face) as he has been so successful but, I have to say we all went thru "hell" while he was growing up.

Keep the lines of communication open. You have a great relationship with your kids & that is one the most important things.

Been there! My oldest is super smart. He was bored out of his brains most of elementary school. Often he was so bored he would get into trouble. The teachers always thought he had ADD and we said no. Finally, I took him to a Psychologist and the Psychologist confirmed our opinion that he was bored out of his brains. The school finally put him in the gifted program and he was very happy.